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WEEK 9 written lecture_- Storytelling, Positioning Statements, and PR

This document discusses the importance of storytelling, messaging, and public relations (PR) in arts marketing. It outlines strategies for effective positioning and differentiation, as well as the process for creating impactful taglines and slogans. Additionally, it provides guidance on writing and distributing press releases to enhance media relations and public engagement.

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Haley Unger
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5 views

WEEK 9 written lecture_- Storytelling, Positioning Statements, and PR

This document discusses the importance of storytelling, messaging, and public relations (PR) in arts marketing. It outlines strategies for effective positioning and differentiation, as well as the process for creating impactful taglines and slogans. Additionally, it provides guidance on writing and distributing press releases to enhance media relations and public engagement.

Uploaded by

Haley Unger
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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ARTS MARKETING - WEEK 9

Storytelling, Positioning Statements, and PR

“But why can't the language for creativity be the language of regeneration?
You killed that poem, we say. You're a killer. You came into that novel guns blazing. I am
hammering this paragraph, I am banging them out, we say. I owned that workshop. I shut it
down. I crushed them. We smashed the competition. I'm wrestling with the muse. The state,
where people live, is a battleground state. The audience is a target audience. "Good for you,
man" a man once said to me at a party, "you're making a killing with poetry. You're knockin' em
dead.”
― Ocean Vuong, On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous

Words make a difference in how you articulate what you do, believe, and hope to achieve.
Imagine choosing three words that capture your organization that will land you a million dollar
donation or encapsulate everything you are trying to convey about a program. When you are
creating your messaging strategy, you want it to feel authentically like you (or your organization)
— not like a marketing firm that has created it for you.

What is Messaging?
Messaging is an action verb—it evolves over time, and is something well-marketed
organizations do constantly. Their core language becomes a part of all of their communications
in their print materials, emails, elevator speeches, even social media strategy, and SEO
(Search Engine Optimization).
Practically speaking, messaging statements are a set of phrases or two(ish) sentences
identifying information that an organization can rely upon to use as a foundation of their
marketing language.
Positioning & Differentiation
The first concept to think about when developing your messaging language is positioning. By
definition positioning is where you place your organization in your audience’s minds relative
to the competition. Now that you understand more about your audiences, more about your
programs and services, and more about your competition, you can start to differentiate
yourself and position yourself within that landscape.
Here are a few differentiation and positioning strategies:
1. Image Positioning: Image positioning is creatively inducing a certain desired persona or
attributes onto a product in order to appeal to the target market. For example, some
contemporary art museums exude an edgy persona that differentiates them from other
museums that might be more traditional. Examples: the New
Museum(https://www.newmuseum.org/ vs the Frick https://www.frick.org/.
2. Positioning by Personality or by Name of the Product: Many world-class symphony
orchestras are positioned by the name and fame of their conductors. The Alvin Ailey
American Dance Theater evokes immediate response even based just on the words used in
the company’s name.
4. Positioning by Pedigree or Age: Statements that stress venerable age or heritage.
5. Positioning by Usage or Users: positioning by how consumers use the program or for
whom the program is geared. The Children's Museum of Denver once described itself as a
"nationally important center of interactive learning materials for families with children under
twelve."
6. Positioning by Benefits: For example: convenience. An art school might position itself in
terms of its convenient hours, easy registration, and flexible mix of courses. Other examples:
“hands-on, all-ages experiences” or “a quiet space for meditation”
7. Positioning by Narrow Niches: Ex.Specialty museums are examples: stamps, dolls, glass
etc. Think about the Mütter Museum in Philadelphia that exhibits antique medical instruments
and anatomical specimens.
8. Positioning by Attribute: An organization might position itself based on a unique feature
or attribute, such as the “largest”, “most exclusive” , or “most accessible”.

Taglines and slogans


Taglines and slogans are both memorable or catchy phrases. The tagline is the idea of the
brand. Whereas a slogan is often a catchy phrase that promotes a campaign.

Some examples of recognizable taglines and slogans are:


● Nike: “Just Do it.”
● Disneyland: “The happiest place on Earth.”
● KFC: “Finger lickin’ good.”
What do these taglines have in common? They are creative, concise, and express a positive
benefit to the reader.
The Process of Creating Messaging
How do you create such a tagline or slogan? Finding your organization’s messaging begins with
a discovery process, understanding their story, and researching their goals and audiences.
Through ideation, messaging development begins. Developing your organization’s messaging,
or the set of words and phrases you use to market your organization, will take longer than a
week. It may sound simple to articulate what your organization does, believe, and hope to
accomplish. Try to come up with a three word phrase that encapsulates all of your work so far. It
will take time.

Once you have considered your position and differentiation within the marketplace, it’s time to
start writing. One cannot develop messaging in a vacuum. When the process begins, it's best
for an organization to involve staff, volunteers, and its members and/or audience to get a true
reflection of the organization and how to best articulate its purpose and express what it stands
for. Consider your recently completed surveys. Did you include any questions about what words
the survey taker thinks of when considering the organization? If not, consider adding those
questions into the survey. Look back at your meeting notes with your case study contact. What
words did they commonly use to describe their organization? There might be some good
messaging that you can pull from to create your messaging for your marketing plan.
PR
Once you have core messaging developed, it is time to share your organization’s story with the
public and develop your image. This is known as PR or public relations. Some examples of PR
include:
1. Media Relations: Press releases and interview pitches
2. Internal Communications: Keeping those involved in the organization involved and
informed about changes and news.
3. Community Relations: Outreach within the community through programs and
partnerships to express the organization's values and earn public support and
acceptance.
4. Crisis Communications: Most recently we have seen an incredible need for PR for crisis
communications in the era of the COVID pandemic.

Writing a Press Release


Today’s media is in an unprecedented time and ever changing state. Still it is an important asset
to organizations. While you can promote your own messaging through social media and other
methods of advertising, sharing your story with media outlets creates legitimacy for your
organization. Furthermore when information about your programs are printed in newspapers,
shared through digital media platforms (especially with verified accounts), covered on television,
or talked about on radio, the possibility to connect with new audiences increases.

To have your story told in the media, if you have a relationship with a journalist or a media
outlet, you may be able to connect with them directly to pitch a story. However another way to
disseminate your story with numerous media outlets is to write and share a press release.

A press release has a structure that is recognized by the media industry.


1. The top of your press release should read “For Immediate Release”.
2. Decide who is the media contact. Once the press release is shared, a journalist may
want to contact the organization for further information or follow-up questions. Include
name, title, phone number, and email address of the contact person. Often this will be
the marketing director but in smaller organizations it could be the main point person for
the organization.
3. Before you begin your release, add a catchy title that describes your news.
4. In brackets add the date you are planning to send out your release and the location. For
example: [Amherst, MA, March 25, 2022]
5. Now it’s time to write your introductory paragraph. This should include the most pertinent
information.
6. Your second paragraph goes into further detail.
7. Include several quotes about the news in your release. For example, if you are writing
about an event with artists creating a piece of public art, include a short quote from the
artist and from the organizer.
8. Sending correlating images is highly encouraged. (Images should be at least 300 dpi
and at least 800 pixels wide.) Add photo captions to your press release including file
name: image description and photo credit.
9. Once you have concluded the information about your news, add boilerplate information
about your organization or business. This could include a short synopsis about the
organization such as the mission statement of the organization.
10. At the end of your release, include three pound signs (###) or “-30-” at the bottom of the
press release to indicate the end. This is industry standard so that a journalist will know
they have the full story in hand.

Sending your press release


Now that your press release is written, edit, revise, and review. If you don’t already have a
media list, compile names and emails from media outlets such as newspapers, radio stations,
and television stations. These contacts can be located by researching media websites' contact
pages. You can often locate journalist information by following recent news articles and stories.
If you have an arts-related story it’s likely you will want to share your press releases with the arts
reporter not the sports reporter. Keep a living spreadsheet with the name of the contact and
their email address. Turn over in media outlets is frequent and it is likely you will need to update
this contact list with each press release.
To send your press release, add to your subject line: “For Immediate Release:”, plus your
headline. Then copy and paste the press release text and paste it into the body of your press
release. Attach photos and a pdf version of your release. Blind copy or BCC your media email
contacts and add an internal email to the “to” field. Media contacts do not prefer to see all of the
contacts you are sending the release. Review your press release and send it to those media
contacts.
When creating your press releases be prepared to tell your story as you would like to see it
printed. It is not uncommon for some media outlets to print or read directly from the press
release.
This press release exercise is primarily for regional media outlets that are more accessible than
the national media. If you are attempting to access national media outlets outside of your
regional connections, PR firms can connect your story with national media outlets.

Conclusion
As you develop communications strategy, names for programs, taglines, and content
development, remember that with all of these messaging techniques you are telling the story of
your organization and adapting the language for a public facing setting event with just three
words.

###

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